A Japanese journalist was acquitted today of defaming South Korean President Park Geun-Hye over his report on her whereabouts following a fatal ferry disaster, in a case that strained diplomatic relations.

Authorities shut schools and suspended fishing and ferry services in the central Philippines today as a category 3 typhoon barrelled along the eastern seaboard, dumping heavy rains that could cause flooding and landslides.

South Korea's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a murder conviction and life sentence for the captain in the Sewol ferry disaster, saying he had effectively drowned more than 300 passengers to save himself.

The death toll from the Philippines' ferry disaster rose to 41 Friday as rescuers brought more bodies ashore to anguished families, including 10-year-old survivor Gilbert de la Cruz who wailed in despair as the corpse of his one-year-old brother was recovered.

South Korea said on Wednesday it will raise the Sewol ferry that sank a year ago, killing more than 300 people, most of them children, yielding to pressure from mourning families who have called for a deeper investigation into the disaster.

A day of mourning for the 304 victims of the Sewol ferry sinking was overtaken by acrimony today, as organisers called off a ceremony planned to mark its one-year anniversary to protest against the South Korean government's response to the disaster.